Al has only been riding for nearly 3 months and was recommended to me by his friend whom I had coached before. The skills check revealed the areas needing most work and I set to work.
I adjusted his set up which enhanced his body position and footwork then we began with braking technique. Here I moved his braking from rear to the front and the control it gave him was obvious.
Next up was the drop technique and in no time at all Al used his mental and physical skill set to good use and landed perfectly. After a few runs we moved onto the skills trail it self where later on Al would have to link his drop technique with cornering.
I began with pumping and cornering and we worked hard on footwork and then his looking skills. When corrected a good body position habit surfaced that I hadn't taught him but came from other sports he'd done.
We gradually worked our way down the trail, linking each section to the next using the correct braking areas. Al was starting to flow through sections as parts of his skill set became automatic, reaction wise.
We linked, pump bumps, flat, bermed, off camber and switchback corners with steps, rock gardens, fly out jumps and drops.
I worked hard on linking drops into corners but soon Alistair was landing the drop and railing the following corner.
It was time to ride the entire trail and Al really flew along the trail commenting on how slow it feels as his looking further down the trail than ever before. Over a timed 70 meter section he was 3-4 seconds quicker than when we started which related to massive gains over a complete trail.
We ended our session after a few complete runs of the trail as Al became mentally tired.
I rode a demonstration on the woodwork so Al could see the skills in use in my own riding.
A cold beer was welcome as the thunder rumbled all around.
Brilliant session.
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